A chemometric approach for predicting the size of magnetic spinel ferrite nanoparticles from the synthesis conditions

Magnetic CoFe₂O₄ spinel ferrite nanoparticles are synthesized by a microemulsion method using sodium dodecyl sulfate as the surfactant to form micelles. A statistical method of factorial design is used to establish a mathematical model from a series of synthesis experiments. This chemometric model quantitatively correlates the size of the nanoparticles with the experimental conditions. It has demonstrated the capability of predicting, the mean diameter of nanoparticles from the synthesis conditions with a precision of 1 -3 nm over a range from 5 to 35 nm. This quantitative correlation between the size of nanoparticles and the synthesis condition provides the rationale for choosing experimental conditions to control the nanoparticle sizes.